From: Phrogz <phrogz@...>
Date: 2008-01-31T12:29:59+09:00
Subject: Re: ruby wish-list

On Jan 30, 12:34 pm, Roger Pack <rogerpack2...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I know this is controversial, but I wish that if you did
> string_1 + object_2 (or any object) that it would just call .to_s on
> object_2 (instead of having to write it explicitly).  I hate having to
> write extra .to_s's (even if it avoids ambiguity).  That's just me, but
> hey :)

Having provided support on a #javascript IRC channel for years, I can
say that one of the most common errors and questions among users
(particularly when they were working with input from forms) was: "Why
is 1 + 1 == 11???"

JavaScript and Ruby are both dynamically typed. JavaScript, however,
is somewhat loosely typed; it performs some automatic 'helpful'
conversion from one data type to another. Ruby is more strongly typed,
requiring you to be explicit about type conversion, most of the time.

I like Ruby's balance. It's not so strong that you have to do things
like "Hello #{person.to_str}", but not so loose that you see many
1+"1" == "11" types of errors.